Helias volleyball tops Rock Bridge in three sets

It was a dominant first set for the Rock Bridge Bruins. Luckily for the Helias Lady Crusaders, they play a best-of-3 in volleyball.

Helias overcame two match points in the second set, then put away Rock Bridge in the third to win 13-25, 27-25, 25-21 on Thursday at Rackers Fieldhouse.

"I'm very proud of them," Helias coach David Harris said. "We've been talking all season about putting the last play, the last game behind you. Tonight, they did that.

"This was a really good win for us, not just because it was against Rock Bridge, who is a good team, but it was just good for our confidence and what we can do down the road."

Harris said Thursday's match reminded him of the Lady Crusaders' three-set win against Grain Valley in bracket play at the Carl Junction Classic. They also lost the first set, only to rally and win in three.

"Hopefully that's going to be a good lesson for them to know that no matter what happens in the first set, we do have the ability to come back," he said.

Rock Bridge came out swinging to start the match, recording seven kills on its first 10 points. The Bruins led 10-5, forcing the Lady Crusaders to call a timeout.

Rock Bridge finished with 15 kills in the opening set and also took advantage of seven Helias errors.

"They did everything right," Harris said.

The Bruins (16-6-1) entered Thursday's match having won 11 of their last 12 contests.

"I think it was probably the most efficient set we've played," said Rock Bridge coach Nicole Murphy, a former Helias volleyball player and former Calvary Lutheran coach. "Every hit was almost a kill, we were in position on every block, every ball was perfectly set. It was pretty flawless."

The second set could have gotten away from Helias, which trailed 14-10 after an ace by Samantha Doisy.

"If they had gotten one more point, I was going to call a timeout," Harris said.

But Jordan Benward answered with a pair of kills, and Chapel Dobbs had back-to-back kills to close the gap to 16-15.

Benward followed with an ace to tie the score at 16.

"We kept getting a sideout, and then we would score and get a point," Harris said. "So I didn't have to use (a timeout)."

Helias led 22-20 after three straight Rock Bridge errors, but Kennedy Robbins had a kill, Ketti Horton had a block and Emma Roush followed with a kill to give the Bruins a 23-22 advantage.

Rock Bridge had match point with a 24-22 lead, but a serve into the net gave the ball back to Helias. Landrey VanOverSchelde, normally a setter, recorded back-to-back kills to put Helias ahead 25-24.

"She can do some things offensively," Harris said. "We were running out of subs, so I had to leave her in, and it made me look like a genius."

Roush tied it at 25 with a kill, but Benward finished the set with back-to-back kills to force a third set.

In the final set, three straight Helias attack errors tied the score at 9. Then Lauren Strope followed with a kill and the Lady Crusaders led the rest of the way.

Grace Wilding had a pair of kills and Strope added another kill to give the Lady Crusaders their biggest lead of the set at 20-14.

"I really loved the intensity and the focus that they had in those last two sets," Harris said. "If they play with that kind of heart, that kind of energy, then I think we'll have a good rest of the season."

Benward and Dobbs each had seven kills, while VanOverschelde had 14 assists and Claire Bonnot added 13 assists. Annica Luebbering had a team-high 13 digs, followed by Lacey Heidbrink with 12 and Gracie Bernskoetter with 11.

Prior to the varsity match, Harris was presented with the 2018-19 Missouri volleyball coach of the year award from the National Federation of State High School Associations.

"It sounds to me like it's a longevity award," Harris said with a laugh. "It's always nice to be honored, but you don't get these kinds of honors if you didn't have dedicated, committed players, good assistant coaches and supportive parents all along."

Helias (9-5) plays Saturday in the Lutheran South Tournament.

In the JV match, Helias won 22-25, 25-23, 25-17 to improve to 14-5.

Halle Luetkemeyer led the Lady Crusaders with 13 kills, while Tori Schmidt had 18 assists. Grace Verslues had a team-high 15 digs.

Helias also won the freshman match 25-18, 25-13 to move to 13-2.

Olivia Howell finished with five kills, Kambrie Lenox tallied nine assists and Ava Millard finished with nine digs.